Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: challenges in definitions, pathogenesis and management

Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a well-defined pattern of glomerular injury identifiable on renal biopsy using light microscopy. FSGS is not a single entity and much information is needed to make a proper evaluation in each subject with the condition to identify the cause, prognosticate, and inform treatment choices. Categories of information required include: clinical presentation, responsiveness to steroids, pathological subtype, genetic background, and evidence for other adaptive, viral, and toxic causes. Primary FSGS describes a cohort of conditions identified by exclusion of known contributory causes, but does not represent a single entity. Clinical manifestations and outcomes of FSGS vary widely; they include asymptomatic proteinuria, cases of spontaneous remission, steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome, and nephrotic syndrome resistant to immune modulating therapy progressing to end-stage renal disease with recurrence after transplantation. Although immune modulating therapy (based notably on corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors) are widely used in primary FSGS, robust evidence of their efficacy remains scant

El Banco de España elige ALEPH y la British Library ILS, ambos productos de ExLibris

Sección: Noticias. Noticias externasEl Banco de España ha sustituido durante 2003 el programa de gestión de bibliotecas DOBIS/LIBIS que usaba hasta el momento por el sistema ALEPH 500. Es el quinto banco central europeo que opta por Aleph (otros son los bancos centrales de Holanda, Italia y Luxemburgo).N

IgA nephropathy at two score and one

On May 26–28, 2009, an international symposium on IgA nephropathy was convened in Stresa, Italy, as a Satellite Symposium of the World Congress of Nephrology held in Milan. This meeting was attended by a large number of scientists and clinicians working in the field of IgA nephropathy. The oral and poster presentations (over 70) ranged from very fundamental structural biology to clinical management. This article attempts to summarize the main findings of the meeting and to put forth some new perspectives and hypotheses regarding human IgA nephropathy on the 41st anniversary of its original description by Berger and Hinglais in 1968

Can Trained Runners Effectively Attenuate Impact Acceleration During Repeated High-Intensity Running Bouts?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of prolonged high intensity running on impact accelerations in trained runners. Thirteen male distance runners completed two 20-minute treadmill runs at speeds corresponding to 95% of onset of blood lactate accumulation. Leg and head accelerations were collected for 20 s every 4th minute. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scores were recorded during the 3rd and last minute of each run. RPE responses increased (p < .001) from the start (11.8 ± 0.9, moderate intensity) of the first run to the end (17.7 ±1.5; very hard) of the second run. Runners maintained their leg impact acceleration, impact attenuation, stride length and stride frequency characteristics with prolonged run duration. However, a small (0.11-0.14g) but significant increase (p < .001) in head impact accelerations were observed at the end of both first and second runs. It was concluded that trained runners are able to control leg impact accelerations during sustained high-intensity running. Alongside the substantial increases in perceived exertion levels, running mechanics and frequency domain impact attenuation levels remained constant. This suggests that the present trained runners are able to cope from a mechanical perspective despite an increased physiological demand

Training nephrologists from developing countries: does it have a positive impact?

In the past 25 years the International Society of Nephrology has sponsored 545 physicians from 83 developing countries to undertake nephrology training in renal units in the developed world. Data collected biennially from past fellows have demonstrated a very positive impact of the program on individual trainees and their home institutions. Many of the trainees have gone on to leadership positions in their home institutions, countries, and regions. Increasingly, fellowships are undertaken in selected developed centers within the fellow's own region, which increases the relevance and utility of the training to the fellow and the fellow's home institution, and lessens the risk of ‘brain drain’

Battery energy storage systems for the electricity grid: UK research facilities

Grid-connected battery energy storage systems with fast acting control are a key technology for improving power network stability and increasing the penetration of renewable generation. This paper describes two battery energy storage research facilities connected to the UK electricity grid. Their performance is detailed, along with hardware results, and a number of grid support services are demonstrated, again with results presented. The facility operated by The University of Manchester is rated at 236kVA, 180kWh, and connected to the 400V campus power network, The University of Sheffield operates a 2MVA, 1MWh facility connected to an 11kV distribution network

Mesangial IgA1 in IgA nephropathy exhibits aberrant O-glycosylation: Observations in three patients

Mesangial IgA1 in IgA nephropathy exhibits aberrant O-glycosylation: Observations in three patients.BackgroundIn IgA nephropathy (IgAN), circulating IgA1 molecules display an abnormal pattern of O-glycosylation. This abnormality may potentially contribute to mesangial IgA1 deposition, but this is unproven because the O-glycosylation of mesangial IgA1 has not been analyzed.MethodsIgA1 was eluted from glomeruli isolated from the kidneys of three IgAN patients obtained after nephrectomy or at postmortem. Serum from these patients, other patients with IgAN, and controls was subjected to the same treatment as the glomerular eluates. The O-glycosylation of eluted and serum IgA1 was measured by lectin binding using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based system.ResultsIn all three cases, the lectin binding of IgA1 eluted from the glomeruli of IgAN patients was markedly higher than that of the serum IgA1 of the same individual, and also all but one of a series of serum IgA1 samples from other patients and controls.ConclusionsThe higher lectin binding of glomerular compared with serum IgA1 suggests that O-glycosylated IgA1 molecules abnormally and selectively deposit in the kidney. These results provide the first evidence that mesangial IgA1 is abnormally O-glycosylated, and support a direct role for abnormal IgA1 O-glycosylation in the mechanism of mesangial IgA deposition in IgAN